Anonymous wrote:OP here. I really really appreciate the feedback. I'm curious as to how PP at 13:02 would respond to PP at 13:21. The Hyattsville ES you describe is exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to hear, but the scared part of me is worried about the stuff 13:21 is mentioning, particularly if a strong principal were to, say, move on. How are class sizes at Hyattsville ES?

I'm not sure yet whether or not bad MS and HS feeders is an issue for me. Part of me would maybe be ok going private at that point. Obviously that's the case or else I wouldn't even be considering staying in PG.

I think it makes sense to ask these sort of questions, read online sources, look at test scores, and talk to current parents. You'll need to weigh a lot of different factors in making this choice of where to move and I mainly wanted to suggest one possible option that works very well for most people in my neighborhood, but I wouldn't pretend that this is the right choice for you. Some neighbors send their children to nearby specialty programs or to private or parochial schools. Among my neighbors, there are also partisans for University Park Elementary School, Robert Goddard, Glenarden Woods, the French Immersion School, the Friends Community School, and St. Jerome's, but none of those have the sheer number of local boosters that HES does. I think Hyattsville (both the community and the school) is a smart choice and on an upward trajectory.

HES class sizes are generally in the low to mid 20s--larger than I might hope for, but fairly typical for public schools in the DC area. I don't have any reason to think the principal has any thought of moving on from this school, she seems very happy here and has a lot of parental support, but I've seen the leadership turn over in recent years at both the middle and high school and it's been a struggle for those institutions. It would be a sad day for Hyattsville if she were to leave, but not because she's the source of all the positive changes to the school over the past 5 years. She's one strength among many, a big one, but there are so many people who make the school what it is. Most of the credit goes to the teachers. Currently, I know bright children who are being challenged and nurtured at HES. I have no reason to think that discipline issues are distracting from the educational mission or that teachers spend most of their time teaching to children who are struggling.

Good luck with your decision.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Check out Hyattsville Elementary School. It has a strong principal (Julia Burton), PTA, and aftercare options (Art Works Now, Joe's Movement, perhaps Pyramid Atlantic soon). There's widespread community support for the school. Large numbers of unusually well-educated parents are taking a hands-on approach to investing in and improving their local school. The test scores reflect the diverse make-up of the student body. Language and socio-economic barriers keep those test scores (and, consequently, the Great Schools rating) from reflecting the school's strengths, but those who live in Hyattsville are justifiably proud of their neighborhood school. Search the archives for HES and you'll see what I mean.

Unfortunately, I'm not quite as enthused about Hyattsville Middle School or Northwestern High School. Everything in this area is trending upward, so I'm hopeful for future improvements, especially as the vanguard of involved PTA parents has started to transition over to the middle school. Still, that's something to keep an eye on for longer-range planning.

Can we stop explaining away low greatschools rating as a consequence of language and socio-economic barriers? The school has some great things going for it esp. a strong and committed PTA, but I find the constant use of the bolded text to be disturbing. I can see using socio-economic barriers to explain the difference between a 6/7 or an 8/9.

I'm not sure what you're taking issue with here. HES also has a LEP percentage of 21.9% (students with limited to no ability to understand, speak, read, or write English) and a FARMS rate of 76.8% (children who are eligible for free/reduced price meals). HES has a Great Schools rating of 2, a score which is largely based on overall test scores. What do you attribute the Great Schools rating to? Or, really, what would you prefer others to attribute it to?

HES is also much loved by people who have other (good) options and it's a locus of community pride.

Anonymous wrote:Check out Hyattsville Elementary School. It has a strong principal (Julia Burton), PTA, and aftercare options (Art Works Now, Joe's Movement, perhaps Pyramid Atlantic soon). There's widespread community support for the school. Large numbers of unusually well-educated parents are taking a hands-on approach to investing in and improving their local school. The test scores reflect the diverse make-up of the student body. Language and socio-economic barriers keep those test scores (and, consequently, the Great Schools rating) from reflecting the school's strengths, but those who live in Hyattsville are justifiably proud of their neighborhood school. Search the archives for HES and you'll see what I mean.

Unfortunately, I'm not quite as enthused about Hyattsville Middle School or Northwestern High School. Everything in this area is trending upward, so I'm hopeful for future improvements, especially as the vanguard of involved PTA parents has started to transition over to the middle school. Still, that's something to keep an eye on for longer-range planning.

Can we stop explaining away low greatschools rating as a consequence of language and socio-economic barriers? The school has some great things going for it esp. a strong and committed PTA, but I find the constant use of the bolded text to be disturbing. I can see using socio-economic barriers to explain the difference between a 6/7 or an 8/9.

OP here. I really really appreciate the feedback. I'm curious as to how PP at 13:02 would respond to PP at 13:21. The Hyattsville ES you describe is exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to hear, but the scared part of me is worried about the stuff 13:21 is mentioning, particularly if a strong principal were to, say, move on. How are class sizes at Hyattsville ES?

I'm not sure yet whether or not bad MS and HS feeders is an issue for me. Part of me would maybe be ok going private at that point. Obviously that's the case or else I wouldn't even be considering staying in PG.

Anonymous wrote:DH and I are debating our options - we currently live in PG Laurel but want to move closer in to the city to reduce our commute. We're also really keen on our daughter attending public school. We're debating 2 options - buy a modestly priced house in Takoma Park and get in on MoCo, or buy close in in PG and try our luck with immersion lottery and/or the local elementary and/or possibly Friends Community, though I've heard it's getting really competitive. We have a few years to make the move, but I'm trying to figure things out now.

I know the Great Schools site can be a load of c*&% but it's somewhere for me to start. I get that the "best" elementaries in PG are either specialty programs, TAG, or in Bowie. We'd want to live as close to the city as possible so Bowie is out. I see that Greenbelt is rated as ok, but it's still kind of far out (I'd love to get inside the beltway). Where should we be looking? University Park? Hyattsville? Mt. Rainier? Which elementaries are maybe rated low on the websites but are actually great schools - on an upward trend, with great administration and a strong focus on academics? I like diversity (as in a healthy mix). I'm not interested in my kid being a trail blazer - I want her to go to an excellent school with excellent teachers, so if I'm just chasing the unicorn here in PG County, I'd rather know the harsh truth now! Thanks everyone in advance for your input.

I don't live in PG county but a similar area in VA and I will answer the original question you posed.

Elementary schools that are rated low on Great Schools are not going to be great. BTDT.

What you think you do and do not want right now will change dramatically once your child is in school and is being effected by their environment both academically and socially.

Low rated schools are focused on academics but they are focused on getting the lowest performing kids up to average. This is where they have to put the bulk of their resources.

Behavior problems are very real and impact the classroom and learning.

I learned the hard way that parental involvement meant us as parents do quite a bit of extra work at home to either keep my child interested in school or to fill in the gaps of what they did not have time to teach. Lots of school events and an active PTA do not make up for the academic environment. They are nice to haves and it makes you as a parent feel good but they have minimal impact on the classroom experience.

Check out Hyattsville Elementary School. It has a strong principal (Julia Burton), PTA, and aftercare options (Art Works Now, Joe's Movement, perhaps Pyramid Atlantic soon). There's widespread community support for the school. Large numbers of unusually well-educated parents are taking a hands-on approach to investing in and improving their local school. The test scores reflect the diverse make-up of the student body. Language and socio-economic barriers keep those test scores (and, consequently, the Great Schools rating) from reflecting the school's strengths, but those who live in Hyattsville are justifiably proud of their neighborhood school. Search the archives for HES and you'll see what I mean.

Unfortunately, I'm not quite as enthused about Hyattsville Middle School or Northwestern High School. Everything in this area is trending upward, so I'm hopeful for future improvements, especially as the vanguard of involved PTA parents has started to transition over to the middle school. Still, that's something to keep an eye on for longer-range planning.

I'm in Bowie, and I have friends in Hyattsville who love the elementary school and also Greenbelt. Greenbelt folks also like the high school, which I don't hear from Hyattsville or Bowie. However, do not count on the specialty lottery. They are impossible! My kids have been getting high waitlist numbers for years.

OP where do you commute to? Do you want access to the metro, or would MARC serve your purposes as well? I live in Lanham, but take the seabrook MARC into DC in 15 minutes. It's actually the nicer part of my day. There is also a marc stop in riverdale, and of course in Laurel where you live, so probably that is not taking you where you need to be in DC. Just throwing that out there though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It won't reduce your commute any, but if you are in the Bond Mill district, I'd seriously consider staying there for a couple of years. From what I can tell, it's one of the best run schools in the county. The principal has a great reputation. The school seems like a nice diverse family.

We're not - we're in old town (Laurel ES). I've heard good things about Bond Mill too. Honestly though--and it's not a knock on Laurel because I know many love it--that kind of place isn't for me. The small towny conservative thing is killing me, and so is the commute.

And although Cheverly is small townsy it is not conservative at ALL.

Our kids go to Spellman in Cheverly and we are really happy there. Not a lot of white kids in the upper grades but that is changing. The school is 60% black and 35% Latino. Lots of immigrants from African/Caribbean counties too. The PTA is very active and has managed to get a good cross section of the school community involved which isn't always easy. It is a Title 1 school but there is a lot of economic diversity and more and more middle class families are choosing to send their kids there. The principal is young and dynamic and is making a good school even better. The school has also committed to getting physical activity incorporated into the day as much as possible. It has it's problems for sure and the school isn't set on a beautiful campus but the kids are great, the staff is fantastic and there is a real sense of School community. https://www.facebook.com/GNSPTA/

The town of Cheverly is great, even more affordable than Hyattsville or Greenbelt and most of the houses are walking distance to Metro. Check out the blog https://ichoosecheverly.com/ if you are interested.

The middle school and high school we are zoned for are dismal and we are just going to cross our fingers that we can get into a charter or magnet when we get to that point in a few years. Our TAG magnet is Highland park and nearly everyone who applies for second grade gets in if that is something you want to explore.

I've heard good things and bad things about Greenbelt Elementary. I hear that the class sizes in the lower grades can be really big (over 25 and close to 30 in some K classes) and that communication with the admin is hit or miss. The community of Greenbelt is fantastic though and living there gets you into Greenbelt Middle and Eleanor Roosevelt (regular stream not S&T program).

Another school to think about is Calverton Elementary School which has just won an EGATE award. They are zoned for MLK middle school which is also highly rated in comparison to other PG schools.

Anonymous wrote:It won't reduce your commute any, but if you are in the Bond Mill district, I'd seriously consider staying there for a couple of years. From what I can tell, it's one of the best run schools in the county. The principal has a great reputation. The school seems like a nice diverse family.

We're not - we're in old town (Laurel ES). I've heard good things about Bond Mill too. Honestly though--and it's not a knock on Laurel because I know many love it--that kind of place isn't for me. The small towny conservative thing is killing me, and so is the commute.

It won't reduce your commute any, but if you are in the Bond Mill district, I'd seriously consider staying there for a couple of years. From what I can tell, it's one of the best run schools in the county. The principal has a great reputation. The school seems like a nice diverse family.

DH and I are debating our options - we currently live in PG Laurel but want to move closer in to the city to reduce our commute. We're also really keen on our daughter attending public school. We're debating 2 options - buy a modestly priced house in Takoma Park and get in on MoCo, or buy close in in PG and try our luck with immersion lottery and/or the local elementary and/or possibly Friends Community, though I've heard it's getting really competitive. We have a few years to make the move, but I'm trying to figure things out now.

I know the Great Schools site can be a load of c*&% but it's somewhere for me to start. I get that the "best" elementaries in PG are either specialty programs, TAG, or in Bowie. We'd want to live as close to the city as possible so Bowie is out. I see that Greenbelt is rated as ok, but it's still kind of far out (I'd love to get inside the beltway). Where should we be looking? University Park? Hyattsville? Mt. Rainier? Which elementaries are maybe rated low on the websites but are actually great schools - on an upward trend, with great administration and a strong focus on academics? I like diversity (as in a healthy mix). I'm not interested in my kid being a trail blazer - I want her to go to an excellent school with excellent teachers, so if I'm just chasing the unicorn here in PG County, I'd rather know the harsh truth now! Thanks everyone in advance for your input.